This invention relates to the placing of a grommet or cringle at the location in a sail to which some rope or the like is attached such, for instance, as the clew of the sail for applying and distributing rather large local loads to the fabric sail. In conventional sail-making procedures at locations where heavy loads were to be applied such, for instance, as the clew of the sail, a strengthening was provided largely by hand sewing a ring in several fabric layers but in a more recent procedure complementary metal rings have been applied on opposite sides of the fabric of the sail where a rope or the like was to be attached with teeth or pins extending from the inner surfaces of the rings into the fabric of the sail. A liner member has been passed through the center of the rings and rolled outwardly to bind the rings on the sail and also to provide a wearing surface. This necessitated a cutting of the hole in the sail of the attachment point prior to the application of the liner. The procedure was largely a hand operation and required tools of a special nature to perform the placing of the liner in position. Examples of this type of procedure are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,653,353 and 3,812,809.
The procedure outlined above was expensive and one of the objects of this invention is to provide a less expensive and yet sufficiently strong grommet or cringle and one which may be applied without special tools. Also to provide a relatively lightweight attachment or strengthening point and yet one which will be reliable in use. Other objects and features will be in part apparent as the more detailed description proceeds.